The Police And Deaths.

        Deaths after police contact is a subject that the media doesn't pay too much attention to, perhaps they don't want to spoil the illusion of the friendly cop on the beat. However those deaths are there and rising, which should be ringing alarm bells in the heads of the general public. Police custody deaths for 2017-2018 was the highest for a decade, a total 23 people died in or after police detention, an increase of 14 on the previous year.
       Deborah Coles of Inquest stated that austerity was a factor in this increase, due to mental heath services being under funded and overwhelmed. A high proportion of those individuals who died after police contact had mental health issues, drug and/or alcohol problems.
     Another disturbing fact regarding deaths after police contact is the disproportion of these are from ethnic minorities. A record number of black people died after use of force or restraint by officers. Last year the number of deaths after use of restraint or force also rose, 2016/17 of deaths from force or restraint, 5 out of 15 were from ethnic minorities, up from 3 out of 11 for 2015/16.
      While death after contact with the police is not a rare event, a police officer being prosecuted is a very rare thing, to be found guilty is even more rare. It is almost 50 years since a police officer has been prosecuted regarding death in police custody, this despite innumerable unlawful killing verdicts and the fact that there have been more than 3,000 such deaths since 1969. Deaths in police custody and deaths from direct contact with the police, it doesn't seem to make much difference, if there ever is a prosecution we should expect a not guilty verdict to come up.
      How far back do we go? Blair Peach 1979, killed by a baton blow to the head, Stephen Waldorf, 1983, shot by police officers, James Ashley, 1998, shot, Harry Stanley, 1999, shot, Jean Charles De Menezes, 2005, shot making his way to work, Abdul Kahar, 2006, shot, Mark Duggan, 2011, shot, and of course the 2009 assault and death of Ian Tomlinson. From that list, one prosecution and a not guilty verdict. 

 Death of Ian Tomlinson at the hands of the police.

       Ian Tomlinson's death at the hands of a police officer must be the first where there was clear video evidence of the assault and dozens of eyewitnesses but that didn't make any difference, the verdict was still not guilty, later we get the full story, PC Harwood, it seems, had a record of violence with 10 formal complaints against him. Ten complaints, one videoed assault and death, one prosecution, one not guilty verdict. The British judicial system at work.
     Of course the police are the police the world over, from recent figures it appears that in America, an African American dies in an extra-judicial police killing every 36 hours. Who are they protecting?

Total deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police, England & Wales, 1990-date   Type         Met Police   Other forces   Total Custody           273             832             1105 Pursuit              54             355               409 Shooting           30               42                 72 All deaths        382           1346             1728  Total deaths in police custody or otherwise following contact with the police England and Wales 2019.    RTI=Road Traffic Incident. Type           Met Police   Other forces    Total Custody             2                  10              12 Pursuit              4                   11             15 RTI                    4                     1               5 Shooting            1                    2               3 Total                 11                  24             35

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LET JUSTICE BE SEEN TO BE DONE!

    So PC Harwood was found not guilty, well he joins a long list of police officers who have got away with what any reasonable person can only describe as murder. While death after contact with the police is not a rare event, a police officer being prosecuted is a very rare thing, to be found guilty is even more rare. It is 42 years since a police officer has been prosecuted regarding death in police custody, this despite innumerable unlawful killing verdicts and the fact that there have been more than 3,000 such deaths since 1969. Deaths in police custody and deaths from direct contact with the police, it doesn't seem to make much difference, if there ever is a prosecution we should expect a not guilty verdict to come up.

      How far back do we go? Blair Peach 1979, killed by a baton blow to the head, Stephen Waldorf, 1983, shot by police officers, James Ashley, 1998, shot, Harry Stanley, 1999, shot, Jean Charles De Menezes, 2005, shot making his way to work, Abdul Kahar, 2006, shot, Mark Duggan, 2011, shot, and of course the 2009 assault and death of Ian Tomlinson. From that list, one prosecution and a not guilty verdict.

      Ian Tomlinson's death at the hands of a police officer must be the first where there was clear video evidence of the assault and dozens of eyewitnesses but that didn't make any difference, the verdict was still not guilty, and now we get the full story, PC Harwood, it seems, had a record of violence with 10 formal complaints against him. Ten complaints, one videoed assault and death, one prosecution, one not guilty verdict. The British judicial system at work.

     Of course the police are the police the world over, from recent figures it appears that in America, an African American dies in an extra-judicial killing every 36 hours. Who are they protecting?

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DEATH AT THE HANDS OF THE POLICE.

      In a recent post, UK armed police,  I mentioned the death of Mark Duggan, by armed police, and the three deaths at the hands of the police since that event. I referred to this as a recent spate, as it should be noted that death at the hands of the police goes away back in our history.
       We can start with Blair Peach, killed at an anti-racist protest in April 1979. In spite of the fact that 14 witnesses stated that they had seen Blair Peach being hit by members of the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group, (SPG), nobody was ever charged with his murder. Prior to the Mark Duggan killing the previous high profile death at the hands of the police was Ian Tomlison. Ian was hit from behind and pushed to the ground by a police officer, he died shortly afterwards. This was April 2009 at the London G20 protest, Ian, however, was not at the protest, he was merely trying to find his way home through the protest, after work. He was walking with his hands in his pockets and his back to the police when he was brutally assaulted by the officer.
      There never seems to be much coverage in the media of the number of deaths at the hands of the police, but the numbers are considerable. From 1997 until 2007, in England and Wales, 530 people have died in police custody. Not one single officer has been convicted in connection with these deaths. During the period, 1990 until 2011, armed police have killed 53 people, 21 of these were by the London Metropolitan Police. A lot of deaths, no convictions, it doesn't seem to add up.

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BENT COPPERS!!!

        Most people that go on demonstrations, protests, rallies etc. know that the police provoke and can lie and when it comes to court, in most cases the police version is accepted. There are times of course when their lying is exposed, but nothing ever seems to happen to them. We all remember Jean Charles de Menezes, shot dead on a London tube. The first stories to emerge from the police were that he was wearing a bulky jacket, refused to stop when asked, and ran away, vaulting over the barrier. The truth being he was lightly dressed, had never been asked to stop, and could be seen on CCTV walking to the tube, stopping to pick up a paper and then continuing. The most recent case of Ian Tomlinson killed at the G20. The first accounts coming from the police were that he was involved in violent and dangerous confrontation, lost his balance, fell and hit his head. Then as the police tried to help him they were bombarded with missiles being thrown by the protesters. We now know the truth was that he was attacked by a police officer while walking slowly with his hands in his pockets, hit with a baton and then pushed to the ground. The first aid he received was from the protesters while the police stood by for a spell and did nothing. There is a catalogue of police lying that never sees the perpetrators brought to justice, so why should be trust the police?

There is an excellent article by George Monbiot in the Guardian which deals in more detail on this subject, it is certainly worth a read.

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NOT ON SALE AT YOUR LOCAL SUPERMARKET.

          Ian Tomlinson is just one of a long line of victims of police brutality. To date no serving police officer has ever been successfully charged with killing someone. In spite of there having been more than 400 deaths following police contact in the last ten years, no police officer has ever been convicted of murder or manslaughter. Draw your own conclusions. 

“After 16 months of waiting, to hear nothing is being done is a complete joke. Today they gave us no hope. This experience has broken our family apart. The DPP has told us there was an unlawful act, yet no charges are to be brought. This is no justice - everyone has failed us.”

 Ian Tomlinson’s son Paul King

Photo and Paul King's comment courtesy of   Schnews 

  I'm aware that it might be last months news but it is of such importance that I think it is well worth repeating Plus don't you think the schnews photo makes the point dramatically?